UBS Global Asset Management (UBS GAM) has designed two diversified, tactical-asset allocation wholesale funds in response to investor demands for a low-cost offering that targets better returns.
“We’ve designed these products with the government’s principles in mind – which is all about providing a low-cost, simple and transparent alternative,” UBS GAM Australia and New Zealand head Ben Heap told InvestorDaily.
The UBS Tactical Beta Fund Conservative and the UBS Tactical Beta Fund Growth were launched this week and will be priced in the 35 basis-point range.
The funds gain underlying-asset sector exposure passively through investing largely in local and global exchange-traded funds and other passive building blocks.
Active tactical-asset allocation is then added on top in order to gain additional potential upside without having expensive underlying active-asset classes, Heap said.
The legislative change of Stronger Super is still a work in progress; therefore it is difficult to know how a product needs to be structured in order to qualify as MySuper-compliant, he explained.
“Our clients are intermediaries for whom we’re trying to offer optionality, so that they can then put our products onto their platform as MySuper-compliant products,” he said.
“We’re expecting that the way we’ve designed this will meet the needs of our clients, but if those need [to be] tweaked a little bit we’d be happy to modify.”
The funds are registered managed-investment schemes available to dealer groups and superannuation funds as white-label products, as this is how UBS expects the MySuper landscape to develop.
“There’s been a changing demand from investors [who] have a different view on risk today, so our intent is to make sure we give our clients products that meet their requirements,” he said.
“Just because a product is low-cost it doesn’t mean you can’t provide an enhanced product that can offer improved performance over time for investors.”
